The Boys Showrunner on Why That Character Had to Be the First to Die in Season 5 - ign.com

Showrunner Eric Kripke and the cast reflect on the first major death of Season 5.

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the first episode of The Boys Season 5!

If there’s one thing The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has tried to get across about the show’s fifth and final season, it’s that no one is safe. The end is nigh, and there’s no telling who might perish on the road to the final confrontation between our heroes and the almighty Homelander. That fact is borne out in the Season 5 premiere, which culminates in the death of a major character who’s been at the forefront of the series from the very first episode. Let’s pour one out for Jessie T. Usher’s A-Train.

It’s certainly a dark way to kick off Season 5, but also a necessary one. This satirical superhero universe has grown darker than ever now that Homelander has taken control of the country, mirroring the ways our own world has changed politically in the uncertain landscape of 2026.

We recently spoke with Kripke and the cast of The Boys to break down A-Train’s death and explore why the series has only grown more timely and relevant in its final season. Is hope the ultimate superpower in the Boys universe? Let’s talk about it...

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The Tragic Death of A-Train

Season 5 opens with several of our heroes imprisoned inside one of Vought’s new “Freedom Camps,” prison camps where the company tosses anyone they view as dangerous or disruptive to Homelander’s new regime. Episode 1 follows Starlight and Billy Butcher as they organize a jailbreak to bust out Hughie, Frenchie, and Mother’s Milk before Homelander can execute them for their “crimes.”

The good news is that Starlight and friends have a powerful ally in the super-speedster A-Train, who finally made a break from The Seven in Season 4; unfortunately, A-Train proves to be the first hero to fall in Season 5. Ironically, he dies doing exactly what he wouldn’t do back in the series premiere – avoiding running through an innocent bystander, losing his footing, and allowing the vindictive Homelander to catch up to him. At that moment, A-Train’s fate is sealed.

"When I say we, I mean the writers, we had decided a while ago that A-Train should probably be the first to go," Kripke tells IGN. "It felt like Homelander's anger towards him would be so red-hot that it was difficult to figure out a way to write around."

Unsurprisingly, the parallel between A-Train’s crime in the series premiere and his self-sacrifice in the Season 5 premiere was very intentional. It was a way to show how far this character has come and remind us that some superheroes in this universe are actually capable of living up to the title.

"I think it was really important to us that A-Train go out a hero," Kripke says. "And there's this lovely moment that Paul Grellong wrote. In the very first time you saw A-Train in the pilot, he carelessly runs through a woman. And the very last time you see A-Train in the series, he very carefully dodges a woman, but that causes him to trip and costs him his life. But he goes out a hero, and it's a really great bookend to show how much he's grown as a character and how much more human and humane he's become."

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It’s not only a big moment for A-Train himself, but for Homelander too. Here we see Homelander confronted with a former ally who’s now one of the few people on Earth completely unafraid to stand up to him and speak truth to power. What was going through Homelander’s mind at that moment? For that, we turn to actor Antony Starr.

"I looked at it like it's a necessary thing, but I think in the moment, it was really just [that] it had to be done," Starr says. "It was another person that betrayed him and the ledger had to be balanced no matter what. I think he thinks he's doing the right thing according to what he needs to survive and advance in his life. So I think as far as he was concerned, A-Train fully deserved it."

But was Starr himself surprised by this twist? "Yeah, a little bit. But at the same time, no, because the show has a history of not pulling its punches, and it just felt like the... Of course something like that was going to happen. It didn't surprise me as much as it was just a surprise. It was more the 'who' than the 'what' of the situation. Unfortunately, heads rolling early on in final season is good for business."